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Chapter Summary

This chapter explores tensions and strategies adopted by feminist movements in challenging religious claims that deny gender equality. Measures taken in the name of Islamisation in Pakistan have threatened gender equality and denied women's equal human rights. The chapter discusses role of Islam within Pakistan's constitutional framework. Muslim Personal Law (MPL) refers to the religious or Divine law of Muslims by which they believe themselves to be governed as a matter of faith. The Muslim Family Laws Ordinance (MFLO) modest reforms were also to come under threat as Zia promised to restore the sanctity of the chador aur chardiwari. Conflicts between religious-cultural claims and the pursuit of gender equality have been played out in a number of recent cases in Pakistan. Religious-cultural claims within Pakistan continue to resist the application of human rights principles to relations within the family and the domestic sphere.